Thursday, August 18, 2011

The truth is, I've lost my blogging mojos. I updated my blog daily, but, there's no essence in it. Too many things in my mind now. Some days I feel like crying, some days, I feel like laughing. But the crying days came more often that the laughing days. Bila K.Lili post a beautiful doa on her blog, I cried buckets

"I know you are there ALLAH. I know you see my tears.

I know you hear my prayers. I know you are testing me.

And all I ask from you is to strengthen my Iman, so I can handle the struggle in life and have patience.

1. In a mixing bowl sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. In bowl of electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Gradually add 1 cup of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

3. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and santan mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

4. In a clean bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, (or with a hand mixer) beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup (50 grams) of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

5. With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over mix the batter or it will deflate.

6. Pour into the prepared pans, smoothing the surface with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in center.

7. Place the cakes on a wire rack to cool, in their pans, for about 10 minutes. Then invert the cakes onto a greased rack.

At 2pm, ada story telling for children kat situ. Iffah wanted to join the session. Iman and Zuleika were like bleh.. Dia org cakap it's for small kids. And true enuff, they were the only young adults there. Hahahaha.. The rest, kanak2 ribena yang berumur bawah 6 tahun. Terkulat2 muka dia orang duduk kat tengah2 tu.

I'm honoured when Citra dropped by and told me that I've been tagged. I've always love Citra's blog because of the simple and yummylicious dish that she featured. It's fool proof too! And through Citra, I found Pide! Been in love with Pide ever since :)

Here goes.. I copy this from Citra's..

This tag is all about your own stuff. I think it's a great idea to highlight some long forgotten posts or some lonely, neglected, uncommented recipe ... especially during one's early days of blogging. I'm happy to be tagged by Citra to take part in this 7 - Link Challenge. That's 7 of your own posts in relation to the categories and then to nominate 5 victims bloggers to join in. No extra cooking or baking required. (I'll tag my food blogger friends).

With almost 20,000 hit from Kongsiresepi.com, I'd say Buttermilk Pancake post is the most popular post. And it's a hit with the girls too. They love this pancake and their classmates adore it. Siap berebut among them bila bawak pegi sekolah.

3. The most controversial post.

Why is Lompat Tikam post so controversial? Actually, takde la controversial sangat. Cuma it's more of sakit hati when someone made a comment about the possibility that aku bagi recipe salah sebab taknak orang buat lompat tikam menjadi. I was like... WT... you can read it here.

4. The most helpful post

I'd say, this Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread Step by Step is the most helpful. I actually took the time to take photos with the help of Iffah because many bloggers thought I weaved the bread to make it look like that. It's a beautiful bread :)

5. The post that was suprisingly successful

Alamak!! What post?? Haiyo! Wait! Lemme think.. It has to be the Upside Down Pizza. I wasnt planning on baking that day. But Ju made a suggestion for me to bake this pizza. It took me 15 minutes to prepare this and voila! It was ready in less than 1 hour. Suprisingly, it's also in the top 10 post. LOL..

6. The post that did not get the attention it deserved

I made this Banana Cake many many times over the years. I did post the photo aeons ago but of course it didnt get any attention it deserved. I'm telling you, the recipe is a keeper. Once you taste the banana cake, you wouldnt want any other banana cake. Tak caya? Cuba la buat :P

7. The post that I'm most proud of

It's beautiful, it's breathtaking and it's perfect!! Iman and Iffah were very excited with the cake. I was estatic with the result too. It's one of the most talked about cake in the bloggersphere, The Rainbow Cake.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

I thought of cooking something simple for iftar semalam. Thus, the chicken plov pilaf. It's simple enough, sedap sangat2 on its own. I added acar kobis to go with the dish. Kalau kena choose between lamb plov and chicken plov, memang aku akan pilih lamb plov. The fat from lamb adds unique flavour to the rice. Next time kalau nak masak this chicken, I wanna marinate it dengan the spices for at least 1 hour.

2 whole chicken –cut into 8 pieces (my suggestion is to marinate the chicken with 1/2 the herbs and salt for at least 1 hour)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

8 cups boiling water – add 1 tbs of salt to it

2 heaping tbsp coarse salt

2 tsp ground black pepper

3 tbsp ground coriander

3 tbsp ground cumin

1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 large head of garlic, un-peeled, with the top cut off.

How to make it

1. Rinse rice in cold water at least 7 times, pouring out all the water completely after each rinse; set aside.

2.In a heavy bottom large pot or dutch oven heat the oil, brown the chicken pieces over high heat, until fat is smoky (but not burning)

3. Remove the meat now and toss in onions and let it cook in fat until translucent, about 5-7 minutes, frequently stirring them. Toss in carrots, continue stirring.

4. Add some of the remaining salt and half of the black pepper and paprika at this point.

Now add it back the chicken and sprinkle some of the coriander and cumin over. Stir for another 2-3 minutes.

5. Spread the rice over the chicken, onions and carrots, don't stir.

6. Make a hole in the rice with a handle of a wooden spoon, and pour the boiling water through that hole slowly, taking care not to disturb the bottom ingredients. Water should cover the rice by not more than 1/2 inch. Better under-water it than over-water.

7. Leave the heat at medium. Cover the pot tightly and let rice steam through for about 15 minutes without opening the pot.

8. After 15 minutes toss in the remaining spices and salt. Cover again and keep steaming.

9. Stick the garlic head (exposed side down) into the middle of the steaming plov, about 3/4 way and cover again.

10. Steam for another 10 minutes or so. Check plov once in a while for doneness - the top grains should be slightly firm, and the bottom ones - well done, but not mushy. All water should evaporate, but not burn.

11. Rice should be slightly sticky, but all grains should easily separate and not be easily mashed with a spoon. Chicken should be tender and juicy, and vegetables should be all very tender.

Back to sup ayam. I cooked this for iftar on Tuesday sebab hubby buka puasa kat luar. When he's not around, aku malas nak masak elaborate sebab the girls pun tak makan sangat. They only eat what they like je.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Lightly grease with butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, a 9 x 13 x 2 inch (23 x 33 x 5 cm) heatproof baking dish. Place the baking dish into a larger roasting pan that has enough room around its sides to fill with water.

Place the bread cubes and fruit (if using) in the baking dish.

Custard:

In an electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs and sugar on high speed until thick and lemon colored (about 4-5 minutes) (when beater is raised the batter will fall back into bowl in a slow ribbon). Beat in the vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. Then beat in the melted butter and milk.

Assemble: Carefully pour (or ladle) the prepared custard over the bread cubes until completely covered. Press down the bread cubes so they are covered with the custard.

Prepare a water bath. (A water bath is used to provide temperature protection for the egg custard.) Carefully pour in enough hot water so that the water is halfway up sides of the 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Another way to judge whether the pudding is fully baked, is to gently press down on the center of the pudding. If any custard comes up to the top, the pudding needs to be baked a little longer. Remove the bread pudding from the water bath and cool slightly before serving.

Can be served warm or cold with a dusting of confectioners' sugar and a dollop of softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

For vanilla sauce, whisk 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, the flour, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 1/4 cups of whole milk,and salt together in a heavy saucepan until smooth. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and the sauce coats the back of a spoon, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Pour sauce over warm bread pudding, or serve on the side in a bowl.